On its surface, the Usher-helmed Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show at Las Vegas, NV’s Allegiant Stadium was an appropriately lavish retrospective on the R&B hitmaker’s sustained output and influence on popular culture. Many of the smaller details of the performance, however, seemed to have a deeper thematic scope. As much as this performance was a celebration of Usher, it was also a celebration of where he came from, where he is now, and Southern Black culture on as a whole.
Usher hinted at the performance’s thematic thread in the lead-up to game day, which took place during Black History Month. “It’s a major thing for me,” he said during a Good Morning America interview. “I think about what our country has kind of represented for Black artists, you know, having to at some point go through kitchens to even be able to perform for an audience, but they had to leave back through that same door, fear for their lives as they went to the next state to do the same thing. So I’m coming through the front door with this one.”
Usher Raymond…
Starting from the beginning, to the end…
In Black History Month..
Gave us 80 plus years of black achievement from Josephine Baker to whole ass Skating Rinks to Rock n Roll to Black College Bands to The Divine 9….to Hip-Hop and Dance….In 15 Minutes
— 9th Wonder (@9thwonder) February 12, 2024
The flow of the show seemed to work backward from Vegas, where Usher has spent the last several years solidifying his legacy with a lavish residency, to Atlanta, where he first made his name three decades ago. After appearing on a throne in a white and silver leisure suit—cape, jacket, gloves and all—to the pre-recorded sounds of his 1997 track “My Way”, he quickly set his Halftime Show apart from recent entries by strolling directly onto the field during “Caught Up” as flocks of feathered showgirls, circus performers, and other quintessentially Vegas dancers made use of the sprawling field, lasers panning at their feet. On the outskirts, the Jackson State University marching band, known as Sonic Boom of the South, added some HBCU school spirit to the proceedings.
Usher showed off his famous dance moves as he led the massive ensemble toward the 50 yard line, enlisting a crew of dancers in old-Vegas, Josephine Baker-reminiscent lounge attire as he moved into 2001’s “U Don’t Have to Call”. Before taking one of several smaller stages on the field for “Superstar”, he noticeably removed one of his white gloves—leaving the remaining one as a subtle homage to Michael Jackson. As he moved from there into 2008’s “Love In This Club”, a pair of dancers strolled through holding canes associated with Kappa Alpha Psi—a shoutout to the Divine Nine, the group of five fraternities and four sororities that serve as the foundation of Black Greek life on campuses across the country—while the marching band drove home the collegiate energy with the track’s joyous horn refrain.
Related: Dr. Dre & His Protégés: Hip-Hop Royalty Finally Captures The Super Bowl Halftime Show Stage
The show’s first of many surprise guests, Alicia Keys, made a grand entrance beneath a massive, billowing red cape and offered up a bit of her own “If I Ain’t Got You”, playing along on a crimson wave of a piano. Usher added some vocal harmony before guiding Keys away from the piano for a duet on the pair’s 2004 collaboration, “My Boo”.
After a quick cameo by Usher’s frequent producer, co-writer, and collaborator Jermaine Dupri, dressed in what appeared to be church attire, Usher made his way to the central stage as a full band settled in around its perimeter for “Confessions Pt. II”, “Nice & Slow”, and “Burn”. After nixing his shirt for the ladies on “U Got It Bad”, Usher welcomed surprise guest H.E.R., who popped out with a red Stratocaster in a futuristic black getup that looked like the offspring of Janet Jackson‘s “What’s It Gonna Be?!” music video look and Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl Halftime Show look. The solo she rattled off felt like a nod to another iconic Black artist’s Super Bowl performance—Prince in 2007—while the bombastic gospel drum chops during the segment seemed to channel the spirit of the late Aaron Spears, Usher’s longtime drummer who passed away last year.
Like a bit of Vegas magician sleight of hand, H.E.R. drew enough attention away from Usher for him to go throw on some roller skates (!), as a robot-masked will.i.am led the show into their 2010 collab, “OMG”. Joined by a crew of roller-skating dancers, Usher showed he’s still got moves on eight wheels, evoking the roller discos of the ’70s and ’80s—yet another Black cultural touchstone—with fluid choreography and impressively sliding through will.i.am’s legs to close the song.
If the Halftime Show was working back from Usher’s Vegas present to his Atlanta past, Lil Jon‘s appearance in the center of a crowd of fans for a turned-up, crunked-out snippet of “Turn Down For What” signaled that we had arrived at the final destination. After ditching his skates, Usher returned to the fray to join Lil Jon—and the set’s final surprise guest, rapper Ludacris—for the 2004 club anthem that sent all three of these Atlanta artists’ careers into the stratosphere, “Yeah!”. As the Jackson State band spelled out “Usher” on the field, pole dancers flanked the stage to offer up one more homage to the city’s unique nightlife culture.
With Atlanta well represented by Luda, Usher, and Lil Jon, the ensemble took a detour through “Get Low” before fading back into “Yeah!” for some a cappella echoes. “I took the world to the A,” Usher repeated as the cameras pulled away, though that notion best sums up his Halftime Show in reverse: With his Vegas > Atlanta joyride through Black culture, music, and dance at the Super Bowl—as with his career as a whole—Usher won the day by taking the A to the world.
Below, view the full setlist from the Usher Super Bowl Halftime Show and scroll through a selection of photos from the spectacle. Watch the complete performance here.
In other Usher news, the singer capitalized on the Super Bowl momentum on Monday by announcing a new batch of additions to his upcoming Past Present Future North American tour. Find a full list of dates here. His new album, COMING HOME, is out now.
Setlist: Usher | Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show | Allegiant Stadium | Las Vegas, NV | 2/11/24
Set: My Way [pre-recorded], Caught Up, U Don’t Have to Call, Superstar, Love in this Club, If I Ain’t Got You [1], My Boo [2], Confessions Pt. II [3], Nice & Slow, Burn, U Got it Bad [4], Bad Girl [4], OMG [5], Turn Down For What? [6] , “Yeah!”
[1] with Alicia Keys (piano, vocals)
[2] with Alicia Keys (vocals)
[3] introduced by Jermaine Dupri
[4] with H.E.R. (guitar)
[5] with will.i.am (vocals), Usher on roller skates
[6] Lil Jon solo (vocals)
[7] with Lil Jon, Ludacris (vocals)
[Note: Most songs were snippets/medleys]
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